


Smile with your eyes

by Dizzyramblings



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Crushes, Fainting, Fluff, M/M, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27744874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dizzyramblings/pseuds/Dizzyramblings
Summary: Nishimura walks Natsume home from school and utilizes his extremely good reflexes
Relationships: Natsume Takashi/Nishimura Satoru
Comments: 8
Kudos: 113





	Smile with your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I've posted since I was 16, I've loved Natsume's book of friends for so long and have reread the 9 Nishinatsu fics so many times so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Sorry if they're out of character, I'm trying to practice writing dialogue :)

Nishimura doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to this. Natsume was perfectly fine just minutes ago on their walk home, and now Nishimura’s having to dive to keep his head from hitting the ground too hard. 

It had been a relatively normal night, by Natsume standards. They had had to stay late after school to help plan for the upcoming school festival, and as they began to leave Nishimura noticed the sun had already started to set. 

“My moms gonna kill me.” he whined. “Why does it feel like these days are never-ending, we just wake up, go to school, go home and do chores. We never have time for fun anymore.”

“That’s not true,” Natsume smiled, “we went fishing on Saturday for the whole day.”

Nishimura scoffed. “That was ages ago!”

“It’s Tuesday.” Natsume laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Nishimura tried to ignore the swooping feeling in his gut and the heat rising to his cheeks. He scowled.

“Easy for you to say. I’m sure Touko-san lets you do whatever you want when you get home and feeds you a bunch of yummy food, like the stuff she packs for your lunches.” 

He glanced at Natsume again and saw him looking at the sunset with a pensive expression. They had reached the entrance to the school and Nishimura found himself hesitant for their paths to divert. 

Well I’m already late, He thought, what's a few extra minutes?

“We’d better get going if you’re gonna be home before dark.” 

Natsume turned and looked at him, already knowing where he was going with this. “Nishimura, you’re already late.”

Nishimura rolled his eyes and began walking in the direction of Natsume’s house. “Exactly. I’m already late so it doesn’t matter what time I get back.” 

Natsume quickly caught up to him and Nishimura felt himself smirk slightly at the annoyed look on his face. 

He talked about nothing while they walked, just complaining about cram school and laughing at how Kitamoto had dropped his drink on the girl he liked at lunch today. In the beginning of their friendship, Nishimura talked nonstop about girls. Especially when Taki was introduced to their small group of friends. But recently, he found himself unable to talk about crushes in front of Natsume, and his feelings for Taki had diminished to just thinking she was cute. Because a large part of him knew that when Natsume’s smile reached his eyes, or when Nishimura made him laugh and he ducked behind his bangs, he had very similar thoughts about Natsume that he did about the girls he used to talk about. 

Natsume hummed and responded at all the right moments, but as they continued walking and it became darker Nishimura noticed that he was becoming less and less responsive, his eyes flicking to the forest next to the pathway. It was not unusual for Natsume to be distracted, but Nishimura felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he watched him and tried to follow his eyes.

The more they walked, the darker it got. He had the creepiest feeling and kept glancing at Natsume, who had started walking faster. He strided forward to keep up and didn’t complain. He always got the feeling that if Natsume was looking over your shoulder at something, it was a good idea not to turn around. And if Natsume was running from something, it was a good idea to pick up the pace.

Suddenly, a flash of wind zoomed past him and seemed to hit Natsume right in the chest. He was knocked back a few steps and swayed where he stood. Nishimura wasn’t surprised by how quick his reflexes were now after being friends with Natsume for over a year, but again. He’d never get used to this. His adrenaline spiked as all the color drained from Natsume’s face and his eyelids fluttered.

“Woah woah-“

Nishimura rushed forward and grabbed him under the arms and tried to lower them to the ground slowly. Natsume chose that moment to go completely limp and Nishimura went down with him, his arms straining under the dead weight. They were at an awkward angle with Natsume’s legs bent beneath him and his head against Nishimura’s chest. Nishimura tried to adjust them so that he could see Natsume’s face.

“Natsume.” Nishimura called shakily. He tilted Natsume’s head back and his heart clenched as his head lolled. He quickly used his hand to lift Natsume’s head back up against his shoulder, his other hand supporting his back. “Natsume, come on.” He said again, keeping his hand on his face and running his thumb over his cheekbone. Natsume’s face was slack and he was a little warm to the touch, but not enough to cause him to collapse. Under the streetlight he was so pale that he looked like a ghost. Nishimura adjusted them again and shook Natsume’s shoulder gently. There was no way he could carry him home completely unconscious.

“Natsume wake up, come on bud.” He tried one last time, seeing some movement behind his eyelids. His eyebrows scrunched up and Nishimura allowed the worry to take over and smoothed over his eyebrow with his thumb. He’d have time to be embarrassed about it later.

Natsume’s eyes blinked open slowly and Nishimura felt something unclench in his chest and let out a breath. “You with me?”

“Satoru?” Natsume’s voice was soft and his eyelids fluttered, and Nishimura could tell he wasn’t quite awake yet by how unfocused his eyes were.

“Yeah. Just take a minute to wake up a little bit.” He said softly, not wanting to startle him. Natsume blinked some more and cleared his throat as he became more aware of his surroundings. He finally looked up at Nishimura who smiled in relief, though his brows were still furrowed in concern. Natsume stared back at him with color rising back to his cheeks.

“You alright?” Nishimura asked nervously after a moment of silence. Worried that the flushing was the sign of his fever rising, he moved his hand from cradling Natsume’s head to press it against Natsume’s forehead.

“I’m alright,” Natsume started to sit up, still leaning against Nishimura for support. “Sorry.” He winced as he moved his legs from where they’d been bent uncomfortably.

“Don’t apologize, that wind was pretty strong. It came out of nowhere.” Nishimura smiled nervously as his hand hovered against Natsume’s lower back. He noticed Natsume’s eyes dart away from him, a telltale sign that Nishimura had come to pick up on to mean he was hiding something from him.

“Yeah, it did. Still, I’m sorry I made you worry.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Nishimura joked, immediately cursing his stupid mouth when Natsume grimaced. “Are you feeling better?”

“I-“ Natsume glanced at him and seemed to come to the conclusion he wouldn’t get out of the question with an 'I’m fine'. “I’m a little dizzy, but I’ll be alright.”

Nishimura sighed and took a moment to take in their surroundings. It was completely dark out now, and though they weren’t near any houses he knew they were a short walk from Natsume’s house. There was a streetlight a few steps from them that illuminated their immediate area, but the forest across the path was dark and ominous. Nishimura shivered and unconsciously tightened his grip on Natsume’s waist, pulling him closer to him.

“Sensei?”

Nishimura turned his attention back to Natsume, who’s attention was on his very fat cat sitting a few paces today, glaring at them. Nishimura didn’t know how he didn’t notice him, although his focus on Natsume had been pretty intense.

Nishimura scowled right back at it. “Oi Nyanko, aren’t you supposed to protect him from scary winds? Where were you?” Natsume whipped his head around and stared at him with wide eyes. “What? I’m not stupid. That cats like your service animal or your bodyguard or something, I swear.” Nishimura joked. “And don’t whip your head like that when you’re dizzy.” He added when Natsume’s eyes fluttered slightly and he leaned more into Nishimura’s chest. Nishimura felt himself flush slightly and thought he heard a scoff nearby, but when he looked up he only saw the fat cat shifting to walk closer to them. It put its paw on Natsume’s leg, its eyes narrowing as it looked between them and the forest.

“We should probably get you home.” Nishimura said, following the cats eyes. “On a scale of 1 to 10 how likely is it that you’ll faint if you stand up right now?”

Natsume cut a glare at him and pushed off his chest, kneeling to stand on his own. Nishimura quickly grabbed his arm and helped him stand up. He swayed slightly, so Nishimura grasped his other arm tightly as well. When he looked up they were very close together, their breath intermingling. Natsume’s face was flushed again, and Nishimura wanted to get him home as quickly as possible.

“Come on.” He said, draping Natsume’s arm around his shoulder, noticing the couple of inches between their heights. “You’ve grown since we met, no fair Natsume.” Nishimura whined, starting to guide them in the direction of the Fujiwara house. “You’re not allowed to grow anymore until I catch up.”

Natsume let out a breath, almost a laugh. “I don’t see that happening.”

“Don’t make me drop you.”

————

Touko was reasonably worried when they walked through the door so late, especially with Natsume as pale as he was. She rushed to him and fretted immediately, smoothing his bangs out of his face and checking his temperature. Nishimura never let go of the hold he had around Natsume’s waist and the hand around his shoulder. Somewhere along the walk, he had gone from holding his wrist tightly to keep him balanced to their hands being clasped together. Nishimura could feel his hands sweating.

“Thank you for getting him home safely, Satoru.” Touko said, turning to him and clasping his cheeks. “I’m going to put on some tea and get him some water, would you mind taking him upstairs?”

“Yes ma’am.” She patted his cheek and turned to the kitchen, with one last worried look to Natsume. Nyanko waddled after her with his bell ringing, seemingly unworried now that the door was closed behind them.

“You’re so late already, I can head up on my own. I’m alright-“ Natsume started, attempting to detach himself from Nishimura. Nishimura tightened his hold again.

“I don’t care.” He said nonchalantly, kicking off his shoes. “I mean, my mom doesn’t care. I was exaggerating earlier. She probably won’t even notice I’m gone. I’ll get the same amount of ear full no matter what time I get home.” He shrugged and looked down, nudging Natsume so they could start their trek up the stairs. He glanced at Natsume and found him already looking at him, an unreadable expression on his face.

“What? Are you dizzy?” Nishimura pulled him closer, prepared to take them to the floor if he needed to.

“No, I’m fine. Let’s go upstairs.” They made their way up the stairs, with Nishimura making sure to support Natsume the whole way up. They run into Shigeru at the top, who’s face contorts in worry when he sees how Nishimura is supporting his foster son. He goes ahead to Natsume’s bedroom, lays out his futon, and closes the window.

“Thank you Shigeru-san.” Natsume says shyly, averting his eyes. Cute, Nishimura thinks.

“Just try to get some rest.” Shigeru says, ruffling Natsume’s hair. “And Nyanko,” Shigeru looks behind them at where the cat is sitting in the doorway, a bun in it’s mouth. “Watch over him while he sleeps, ok?”

Nishimura held back a laugh at that. Everyone seemed to talk to the cat like a human, even a man as serious as Shigeru. But the laugh died in his throat at the way the cat seemed to stand straighter at that, as if he had understood and was taking his job seriously. He was probably just overthinking it.

He finally let go of Natsume so he could change into his pajamas. He turned around and covered his eyes, but stayed alert in case he fell or couldn’t balance. When he turned back around Natsume was lowering himself down into his futon, looking worn out. Nishimura walked over to him and plopped down next to him. Natsume blinked at him with his wide eyes, and Nishimura took in his whole face. He had freckles over his nose from spending a day outside with him over the weekend, and they popped out with how pale his complexion was tonight. His eyes softened the longer Nishimura stared at him, and he noticed the specks of green sprinkled around in the deep hazel. His eyes flicked down to his lips and back up at Natsume’s face, who’s freckles had disappeared under a blush.

At that moment, Touko walked in with two cups of tea and a glass of water. Nishimura leaned back, not realizing how far he had leaned into Natsume’s space. With Natsume’s attention drawn away, Nishimura noticed the cat sitting at the end of the futon, his eyes narrowed to slits and his ears pressed against the back of his head. Nishimura glared back at it for the third time that night, not even having it in him to be embarrassed that he was beefing with a cat. They seemed to come to an agreement as the cat huffed and settled in next to Natsume's feet.

“Satoru dear, would you stay the night? I don’t want you walking home in the dark, I’ll call your mom for you.” Touko urged gently, while pushing Natsume back to lay down and checking his temperature again. He made eye contact with Natsume who smiled at him weakly back at him. That was all he needed.

“That sounds good.”


End file.
